Iran Opposition Outlet Says Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Is Critically Ill

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, is critically ill, Iranian opposition outlet IranWire reported on Aug. 7.

IranWire cited multiple anonymous sources familiar with President Masoud Pezeshkian's administration as saying Khamenei's condition was extremely grave.

The sources claimed rumors were spreading widely within the upper ranks of Iran's ruling establishment that he could die at any time.

"It would not be surprising at all to soon hear news of his martyrdom," one source said.

Mojtaba Khamenei was reportedly injured in late February during U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that killed his father, former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He later succeeded him as supreme leader but has not appeared in public since. He was also absent from his father's funeral last month.

Pezeshkian said in an interview broadcast on state television on Aug. 5 that communication with the current supreme leader was "very difficult" at present.

Ko Jung-sam, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com